Grand Opening Sunday, September 19 / 11 AM–6 PM
Icons, Iconoclasts, and Outsiders
Inaugural Exhibition of Howl! Arts/Howl! Archive (HA/HA)
Some Serious Business congratulates our partners Howl Arts on the launch of the new space Howl! Arts/Howl! Archive (HA/HA). Energized by the creative and disruptive spirit of the 60s, 70s, and 80s on the Lower East Side—and the success of Howl! Happening—HA/HA expands Howl’s programming capabilities and aims to advance Howl Arts’ mission to preserve and showcase the legacy of often overlooked underground and experimental cultures of the East Village and downtown neighborhoods.
Icons, Iconoclasts, and Outsiders presents works by artists, writers, musicians, scenesters, performers, icons, iconoclasts, outsiders and other creators from the 1960s to the present whose life and work energized the underground and are now entering mainstream cultural discourse. HA/HA is located at 250 Bowery, just down the block from Howl! Happening. The exhibition continues through October 31, 2021 and is co-curated by Howl executive director Jane Friedman with Sean Mellyn and Maynard Monrow.
Icons, Iconoclasts, and Outsiders unveils previously undocumented aspects of downtown life and culture—the atmosphere of a wildly diverse neighborhood that has influenced successive generations. A refined collection of works of art, cultural history, and ephemera, the exhibition presents the early Ramones banner Gabba Gabba Hey (1977) and the paintings by artist and founding spirit of the gallery Arturo Vega; Candy Darling’s the worst years of my life: a five year diary, from the collection of her longtime friend Jeremiah Newton; David Wojnarowicz’s Saint Sebastian (1981), a portrait of Brian Butterick from his personal collection; costumes, props, and videos from The Alien Comic Tom Murrin’s archive; an exquisite photographic portrait by George Dureau and explosive paintings by Richard Hambleton from the Arturo Vega estate; a signature portrait by Helen Oliver Adelson; John Kelly’s Robert Mapplethorpe from his series of graphite portraits of gifted individuals who were a part of his life and creative circles; cultural chronicler and photographer Marcia Resnick’s color portrait of William Burroughs (1980); and Scooter LaForge paintings that explore contemporary social issues through humor, lavish decoration, and exaggerated cartoon-like figures.